Development of a fast response dispersion model for virtual urban environments

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Title Development of a fast response dispersion model for virtual urban environments
Publication Type dissertation
School or College College of Engineering
Department Mechanical Engineering
Author Singh, Balwinder
Date 2012-05
Description According to a UN report, more than 50% of the total world's population resides in urban areas and this fraction is increasing. Urbanization has a wide range of potential environmental impacts, including those related to the dispersion of potentially dangerous substances emitted from activities such as combustion, industrial processing or from deliberate harmful releases. This research is primarily focused on the investigation of various factors which contribute to the dispersion of certain classes of materials in a complex urban environment and improving both of the fundamental components of a fast response dispersion modeling system - wind modeling and dispersion modeling. Specifically, new empirical parameterizations have been suggested for an existing fast response wind model for street canyon flow fields. These new parameterizations are shown to produce more favorable results when compared with the experimental data. It is also demonstrated that the use of Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) technology can enhance the efficiency of an urban Lagrangian dispersion model and can achieve near real-time particle advection. The GPU also enables real-time visualizations which can be used for creating virtual urban environments to aid emergency responders. The dispersion model based on the GPU architecture relies on the so-called "simplified Langevin equations (SLEs)" for particle advection. The full or generalized form of the Langevin equations (GLEs) is known for its stiffness which tends to generate unstable modes in particle trajectory, where a particle may travel significant distances in a small time step.
Type Text
Publisher University of Utah
Subject GPU-plume; Parallel simulation; QUIC-plume; QUIC-URB; Urban dispersion modeling; Virtual reality
Subject LCSH Urban pollution -- Computer simulation
Dissertation Institution University of Utah
Dissertation Name Doctor of Philosophy
Language eng
Rights Management Copyright © Balwinder Singh 2012
Format application/pdf
Format Medium application/pdf
Format Extent 4,380,618 bytes
Identifier us-etd3/id/670
Source Original in Marriott Library Special Collections, TD7.5 2012 .S56
ARK ark:/87278/s63r17p8
Setname ir_etd
ID 194834
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s63r17p8
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